They kept the news of Pakistan's founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah's life-threatening tuberculosis a secret before partition. In recognition, the two Indian doctors will be awarded Pakistan's highest civilian honour. Pakistan's Minister of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives and Chairman of the Award Committee Ahsan Iqbal announced this recently.
It is known that the news of Jinnah's illness should be limited only to his close friends, two Parsi doctors of Mumbai confirmed. Jal Ratanji Patel and radiologist Dr. Jal dhaivo-ku. Islamabad nominated him for the posthumous 'Nishan-e-Imtiaz' honor for his 'silent but extraordinary contribution'. Ahsan Iqbal recently said in a post on his X handle that in 1946 Dr. Patel and Dr. Dhaivo-ku took an X-ray of Jinnah's chest and realized that his tuberculosis had progressed to a fatal stage. He has only one to two years to live. Following the principles of professional confidentiality of medical care, they keep the information of this incurable disease completely secret.
According to many historians, had this information been known at that time, the timeline of the partition of India and the formation of Pakistan could have changed. Iqbal said, “I am proud to nominate two eminent doctors from Mumbai's Parsi community for the Nishan-e-Imtiaz award, who faithfully kept the details of Jinnah's terminal illness a secret.” It is known that two Indian doctors will be honored posthumously in March 2027.